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Dec 16, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Maria Gitane

Toronto-based, avante garde pop artist Wrené debuted last year with her first record, Unharmed, and quickly followed this year with a new record, Live Wire. She’s kept up the pace with a new EP last month, Dark Matter, a dark and surreal reflection on mental health issues, tinged with Wrené’s shifting song structures and alien soundscapes. Today she’s sharing the video for the EP’s opener, “Hideous,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Hideous” explores a world of contradictions. Wrené’s celestial alt pop vocals meet grinding electronics, while the lyrics marry sexual desire with fear and disgust. As the track begins with subtle pulsing beats and industrial textures, the lyrics veer into body horror一”Organs and skin, organs and skin / I reveal myself as weakened / Through your gaze, I liquify.” Later, that fear turns into burning desire, with Wrené’s vocals soaring high as she confesses, “I just couldn’t help it. I long to feel you / I don’t wanna come down / I want to breathe in you / Fuck I don’t wanna come down.” Similarly, the accompanying video explores the same counterpoint of light and dark, with Wrené’s outline highlighted against the abstract shifting visuals.

As Wrené explains, “Going into this, I wanted to create some representation of an all-consuming alien montress with insect qualities- as this is what I associate the song’s sound with visually. I was prompted by all of the textures and noise to choose the images I did, and I went with my intuition. The intention is somewhat of a reflection of some internal horrors such as shame, disgust, and sexual repression- something relentlessly eating away, becoming mangled and distorted. I think the overall meaning or story can be left to the interpretation of the viewer - what they take from it, or what they may project onto it is all valid!”

Check out the song and video below. Dark Matter is out everywhere now.